Radical teacher overhaul now a reality

Florida launched into a historic, high-stakes venture Thursday to see if radical changes to the teaching profession can boost student success.

In the spotlight: Senate Bill 736, a sweeping package signed by Gov. Rick Scott that dramatically alters how teachers are hired, fired, evaluated and paid.

More than two years in the making, the new law is one of the most far-reaching of its kind in the nation and one of the biggest shakeups in the history of Florida public schools. Tenure is gone for new teachers and contracts and pay will be tied to student test scores.

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Florida’s teachers knew the law was coming. Scott promised on the campaign trail that he would sign it. But many were still glum Thursday, uncertain about the future and worried about vital aspects of the law that have yet to be fleshed out.

Teachers are “anxious and they’re worried and they’re afraid,” said Paige Campell, a behavior specialist and 32-year educator at Pinellas Secondary School, an alternative school in Pinellas Park that serves students with discipline problems. “I’m not typically a pessimistic person … but I’m pessimistic about the way they’ve gone about this, I’m pessimistic about the teaching profession, I’m pessimistic about morale.”

Outside the Pepin Academies charter school in Tampa -- which Scott visited later Thursday -- about a dozen anti-Scott picketers criticized the new law.

When words gets out that Scott signed the bill, “it’s going to be like a blind sucker punch,” said Hillsborough teachers union president Jean Clements, who attended the protest but said she didn’t organize it.

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Among other changes, the new law phases out so-called teacher tenure, the “due process” protections that teachers have against quick firing.

It also ties teacher contracts and pay in large part to how well students perform on tests.

The new law will “foster a student-centered, world-class education system,” said Sen. Stephen Wise, R-Jacksonville.

Critics, though, worry it’s a risky undertaking with unanswered questions and high potential for unintended consequences.

There is serious debate among teacher quality experts as to whether test scores can be statistically crunched enough to accurately measure a teacher’s contribution.

Many of the standardized tests that will be needed have yet to be developed. And there is widespread skepticism that Florida -- where teacher salaries are among the lowest in the country -- can find the money to make performance pay meaningful.

“We’re at a crossroads,” said Joe Vitalo, president of the Hernando teachers union. “You’re going down a path where you can’t see what’s at the end.”

The new law is the latest and biggest education policy change for Florida, a state that has made a national name for itself by pushing far and fast on that front.

In many ways, tackling teacher quality is the last frontier in a brand of education reform that includes higher standards, high-stakes testing and more school choice.

An education foundation headed by former Gov. Jeb Bush floated the first version of the bill in 2009. Former Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed the second version last year after teachers rallied statewide.

Lawmakers who pushed through the third version suggested the three-year implementation period for many aspects will give the state ample time to find credible solutions for unanswered questions and to find the money.

If money isn’t available, they noted, the law does not require school districts to change their pay rates at all.

In the meantime, there is certain to be anxiety as the state transitions from one system to the next -- and as teachers wait for answers.

Bethany Elfering, a fifth-year guidance counselor at Seven Oaks Elementary in Wesley Chapel, predicted some of the changes -- such as no more long-term contracts for new teachers -- will dissuade people from entering the profession.

“I don’t know as a college graduate going in with the changes that are being made that I could make the same career decisions I made,” said Elfering, who left a corporate job to become an educator.